Brothers
by AlphaOmega92
Summary: Written to celebrate the release of Killzone 2, this tells the tale of a Helghast soldier searching for his brother on the war-torn battlefields of Helghan


Colonel Tidus Damon opened his eyes groggily, groaning as a dull pain throbbed in his head. He tried to sit up, feeling a tremendous weight on his chest. Tidus looked down, one of his subordinates laid across him. He rolled the soldier off him and checked the man's vitals: the man had been dead for awhile. Tidus tried again to stand, a sharp pain in his right leg. With some effort, the Colonel finally made it to his feet, surveying the battlefield through orange-tinted goggles.

His unit had been assigned to defend a strategic bridge from an advancing ISA force. From the onset of the firefight Tidus' squad had been outnumbered, but they had held out...until an ISA Armored Division arrived to reinforce the Vektan dogs. One by one his men had fallen, his own life almost snuffed out by an enemy grenade, if it hadn't been for the brave private who sacrificed his life for Tidus'.

A breeze rolled across the bridge, a tattered Helghast Triad flapping in the wind. As the gust blew by, Tidus felt a soft tug on his left arm. He looked down, remembering the white bandana tied around his bicep, the one Aldric had given him.

"Aldric..."

Tidus stared at the bandana his brother had handed him. "What is this for?" he asked, attaching his mask and placing his officer's cap on his head. "These will bind us together," Aldric said, pointing to a similar piece of cloth on his upper arm. "So we'll meet again after the battle." Tidus hit his brother playfully on the back of his helmet. "You and your superstitions, Aldric." The two broke out into laughter, and even though Aldric was wearing his mask, Tidus could tell his brother was beaming. "Alright then." He said, tying the bandana around his bicep. Aldric manned the machine gun of a waiting APC, waving as it rumbled into the distance. The Colonel took the passenger seat in his own recon vehicle, motioning his unit to move out. He crossed his arms and smiled grimly as the bridge came into view.

A far-off explosion broke the Colonel away from his reverie. 'This is no time to be reminiscing,' he told himself. Tidus limped over to the two squad cars his unit had arrived in. One of the vehicles was now no more than scrap metal, its body mangled and riddled with bullets. The second was still in one piece, but was pock-marked with bullet-holes. Tidus dragged the body of the driver out of the seat and turned the ignition, the engine groaning as it started. He hit the gas and left the bridge behind, heading towards a small town on the horizon.

Tidus grimaced as he neared the settlement of Gryps; the city Aldric's squad had been assigned to defend. Calling Gryps a city would be a mistake; it was more like a shanty town, a jumbled mass of scrap metal houses huddled around an ore refinery. Several columns of thick smoke drifted lazily into the air. Tidus followed the smoke, pulling into a shelled-out courtyard. The APC Aldric had ridden in lay gutted in the center of the square, its carcass smoldering. Bodies were strewn about the plaza, both ISA and Helghast. The Colonel left the vehicle and staggered toward the body of one Helghast, recognizing him as Aldric's officer. He didn't even try to check the man's vitals; there were four bullet holes in his chest. Tidus went from soldier to soldier, checking the bodies to see if his brother was among them, but none of the corpses were his. He sat down on a piece of rubble and rested his leg, rubbing his temples in frustration.

"Tidus..." he heard a muffled voice say. The colonel looked up, spotting a bloodied Helghast soldier crawling out of a darkened alleyway. There was a white bandana on his left arm.

Tidus pushed himself to his feet and limped towards his brother, hefting him off the ground. "Aldric," Tidus sobbed, embracing his brother.

"See," Aldric said, wheezing. "I told you these bandanas would work." Tidus carried his brother into a nearby shack, propping him up against the corrugated metal wall and examined his wounds. His brother's legs were riddled with bullets and another had pierced his right side, blood was oozing slowly out from under his tactical vest. Aldric took a deep breath, his air canister rattling.

"Your gas tank is punctured," Tidus said, unscrewing the tank from his brother's mask. "I'll be right back." he said, and limped back into the courtyard.

Scavenging off the fallen soldiers, Tidus procured two assault rifles and a new air canister for Aldric. "There you are." Tidus said, attaching the canister to Aldric's mask.

"Thank you brother." he said, taking a long deep breath of the purified oxygen. Tidus sat down next to his brother, handing him one of the rifles. For awhile, the only sound was the wind rushing through the courtyard, the two brothers inside the shanty clutching the rifles like children's toys. "This reminds me of when we were kids...the time that big dust storm hit. Do you remember, brother?" Tidus chuckled, the memory coming into his mind. "Yes Aldric," he began, "I was twelve and you were eight. We spent the entire night huddled next the mother. She was so..." Tidus paused, his ears perking up at the sound of footsteps outside.

"Hey, was that car here before?" he heard one voice say.

"Dunno, but we should call it in. Those Helghast are sneaky bastards."

Tidus held his breath until the footsteps receded. "Brother," Aldric said. "Do you think they'll be back?" The Colonel looked at his brother and nodded. "Don't worry about it...they won't be back for awhile. You know how slow those ISA dogs are." Aldric broke into laughter, and even though he was wearing his mask, Tidus could tell he was beaming.

Tidus took off his goggles and detached his mask, revealing sharp features and sad grey eyes. He reached to undo his brother's mask. "Here, let me help you."

"But brother...the air."

"The Vektan's bullets will kill you long before lung burn does."

Aldric let his brother remove his own mask and goggles, his face rounder than Tidus', but sharing the same grey eyes.

"Brother, what was Vekta like?" Aldric asked.

"You were there."

"I mean combat on Vekta."

"Hell." Tidus said, crossing his arms.

"Well I guess you never got homesick then." Aldric said, his laugh deteriorating into a fit of coughing. Tidus chuckled and touched his brother's shoulder.

"Do you think mother's alright, Tidus?"

"I'm sure she is. Visari evacuated all the civilians ages ago."

"Were we right to invade Vekta?"

"It doesn't matter now, Aldric. We're the ones on defensive now."

Aldric quieted and gripped his rifle tighter. In the distance the brothers could hear the rumbling of engines.

"We are the sons of Helghan," Tidus began, reciting an oath the brothers had learned back in basic training.

"We are her sword and her shield," Aldric chimed in, reaching for his mask.

"When our people first came to this planet she humbled them," Tidus began attaching his own mask.

"But after generations of strife, she made us stronger," Aldric donned his goggles.

"We are no longer human, we are Helghast." Tidus put on his own goggles and straightened his cap.

"And now is our time." the two brothers said together.

"Now is our time brother." Aldric said, offering his hand.

"Yes, now is our time." Tidus gripped his brother's hand and shook it. The rumbling outside had stopped, many sets of footsteps resounding on the metal floor of the plaza. Tidus let go of his brother's hand and swallowed hard, readying his weapon. "For Helghan!" he bellowed, standing up and firing through the window of the shack. There was a hail of gunfire from outside and Tidus jerked and fell to the ground. "Brother?" Aldric whispered, gently shaking Tidus' body. His brother was motionless, a bullet hole straight through his officer's cap. Aldric raised his rifle and pointed it towards the entryway, his heart pounding in his ears. A figure stepped into the doorway; Aldric pulled the trigger and held it down, yelling as the bullets ripped into the ISA soldier. His rifle emitted a sharp click and the man fell the ground. He looked down at his weapon, the magazine empty. There was a loud bang and Aldric felt a new pain blossom in his chest. He shifted his vision toward the door, another soldier pointing a revolver at him, smoke trickling from its barrel. Aldric fell forward, reaching out for his brother's arm as his vision faded, grasping a blood-stained bandana.

"Brother..."

Sergeant Sevchenko holstered his pistol and stared at the two dead Helghast. Sev turned as his squad mate Rico came into the shack.

"Bastards got Guiles and Wilson." Rico said. He broke into laughter as he saw the positions of the bodies: the officer face-up with a bullet in his head, the other face-down, his arm grasping a white piece of cloth tied around the officer's bicep. "Damn, I knew these bastards were gay."

"I think they're brothers Rico." Sev said. "That one said 'brother' before he died." Rico shook his head and spat.

"Like I care. Come on...let's go." Rico turned and left for the convoy, leaving Sevchenko behind with the two bodies.

"I'm sorry." Sev said to the brothers, he left the bodies behind and turned away, rejoining his squad around the armored vehicles.


End file.
